Watch an Artist Create Incredibly Lifelike Chalkboard Sketches

By Sam Price-Waldman

Peter Han’s artwork lives and dies in a flurry of dust. In the short documentary Pardon My Dust, Han stands in front of the chalkboard, drawing with long, broad strokes of brightly colored chalk. The shapes appear quickly: an octopus, a piranha, a dinosaur. A tarantula crawls over Han’s shoulder, and swiftly emerges on the chalkboard, its legs now foot-long curves of white and yellow powder.

As they take shape, his creatures feel as if they exist on the chalkboard and could leap out at any point. Instead, they are wiped away. “It’s about the big picture, not the small details,” Han explains. “Because I enjoy the process more than the shapes, I can let go of it.”

Pardon My Dust is a SnowGlobe Studios production. Director Adriel de la Torre and his crew originally found Han through Kickstarter, and decided to make the film after learning about his unusual philosophy. Be sure to also check out more of Peter Han’s artwork, both on and off the chalkboard, at peterhanstyle.com.